Page 1: Intro, Box, Specs, Parts, HWLM2216

Intro:

Honeywell produces many different types of products in the consumer and enterprise market. It was just some time ago that SOYO partnered with Honeywell to produce a new line of consumer electronics and out of that agreement comes the newest LCD monitor from Honeywell: The ARIUS 22" HWLM2216. ASE Labs is proud to be the first site to review this monitor.

Box:

The monitor was shipped in a larger shipping box that was well packed to survive the trip through the shipper. You are likely to be buying this product from a store shelf and the retail packaging is nicely branded by Honeywell.

Thankfully this monitor includes a nice 3 year warranty. It has built-in speakers and a mic as well as a webcam. Now we go deeper into the product.

Parts:

The parts included besides the monitor and stand are the cabling. You get two audio cables (one for the speakers and one for the mic), a DVI cable, a VGA cable, a USB A-B cable, and a power cable. A manual isn't picture since the review units shipped before the manuals were printed. The retail package will contain a complete manual.

HWLM2216:

First looks are important in any situation. Thankfully, the HWLM2216 looks great when unpacked. It is all black with a nice silver Honeywell logo on the bottom that is unintrusive enough. There are no other stickers placed on this monitor that I have seen on others. If you respect a clean monitor, this is one of the best ones that I have seen out of the box to date. The screen has a matte finish which I like over a glossy finish.

The HWLM2216 is a 22" LCD monitor that uses standard cathode type backlighting. I'm sure we will see an update sooner or later that will include LED lighting instead, but a regular cathode is tried and true technology. They last long enough that you will be buying a new monitor rather than replacing a backlight. Since it is a 22", the resolution is 1680x1050 which is the standard 16x10 resolution found on computer monitors. This resolution is big enough to contain a great deal of information and keep the readability. The top of the monitor also contains the discreet 1.3MP webcam. This is probably the reason that the monitor contains 3 USB ports instead of the more traditional four. The microphone is located on the bottom right.

The ARIUS finally includes something that was missing from the »Topaz S; a USB hub. The monitor contains a power USB hub with two side ports (facing the monitor on the left) and one back port. All monitors that are mid and high range should include USB ports. It might be another thing that breaks, but the usefulness more than outweighs the problems.

The opposite side (facing the monitor on the right) contains the various buttons for operating the monitor. There are a total of five buttons to control all the functions of the display.

Unlike the Topaz S, the monitor stand included with the HWLM2216 is really feature complete. Not only does the base have a pneumatic height adjustment, but it also can tilt the entire monitor to portrait mode (and hopefully your video card can flip the output as well) as well as being able to swivel the entire base of the monitor.

The monitor base is secured by four screws on the standard VESA type 10cm mount. You can also see the bottom of the monitor stand that includes the swivel action lazy Susan. That is really useful when you are using the monitor for teaching purposes and such. The speakers outputs are located on above the VESA mount on the back.

Standard ports on the monitor include: DVI and VGA, power in, audio in, audio out, USB in (B or printer type), and USB out (standard).

This monitor is big enough to have a high resolution, but is small enough to fit nicely on a standard desk. Shown with a MX3100 kit, the monitor is a nice match for any setup. The image on the monitor is an example of a shot using the webcam (also shown later).